Golf ball retriever



Dec. 30, 1952 C, P KEGLEY, SR I 2,623,769

GOLF BALL RETRIEVER Filed June 27, 1950 Patented Dee. 30, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT i OFFICE GOLF BALL RETRIEVER Charles P. Kegley, Sr., Pulaski, Va.

Application June 27, 1950, Serial No. 170,629

4 Claims.

This invention relates to iimprovements in devices for picking up or retrieving an article from an inaccessible or difficulty accessible location and is directed particularly to such a device designed for retrieving golf balls.

While there are at present many styles of ball retrieving devices they all have some one or more undesirable features as, for example, the open or spoon-like type of device must be held in one position after the ball is positioned therein, to prevent the ball rolling out, or other types depend for their operation upon the action of springs or the release of triggers to effect the trapping of the ball, or it may be necessary to manipulate a lever with one hand to close a cup or receptacle while the other hand is employed in keeping the receptacle in position with respect to the ball.

The present invention has for an object to provide a ball retrieving device in which the above set forth undesirable features are avoided while at the same time providing a retriever which is easy to manipulate and positive and reliable in its action.

Another object is to provide a golf ball retriever which positively traps the ball and at the same time operates without the employment of springs or levers and does not require the use of both hands.

A still further object is to provide a ball retriever which positively traps the ball and holds it until the retriever is moved or raised to a predetermined position whereupon it automatically opens to drop the ball.

A further and more specic object is toprovide a ball retriever adapted to be carried upon the end of a pole or shaft and comprising a cage having an open end and a gate pivoted to the cage and balanced to swing to a closed position with respect to said open end or to an opened position with respect to the same, in accordance with the position to which the cage is moved.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification with the understanding that the invention may be changed or modified within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a ball retriever constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention showing it closed after trapping a ball.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device.

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation illustrating the position in which the ball is released from the retriever.

Figure 4 illustrates another position in which the device may be used to pick up a ball.

Figure 5 illustrates the manner of lifting :and carrying the ball from the ,pick up position of Figure 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the numeral Ill generally designates the body of the retriever, which may bemore specifically defined as the cage. This comprises a bodyl II of cylindrical form, here shown as having an open top I2. Y

At the front part of the cage the body II4 is extended as a wall I3 of arcuate, or substantially semi-cylindrical, form while the rear side has two shorter depending wings I4. These, like the wall I3, are perforated both for lightness and to permit water to escape quickly, when retrieving a ball from a water hazard, so that the water movement through the body will not `cause swinging of the ball retrieving gate to opened position.

The numeral I5 generallydesignatesthe gate, which compri-ses a body I of substantially U- shaped cross section having up curved side flanges I I, joining a back flange IS. f

The front of the gate is open and extending up from the side flanges I1, nearer to the front than to the back, are the hanger arms IS-which extend into the body Il and have apertures through which freely pass the reduced end portions 20 of a cross pin or shaft 2i. The ends of the portions 20 are engaged in apertures in opposite sides of the body II. Thus it will be seen that the gate I5 swings freely on the shaft 2 i The lowest part of the gate I5 is below the lowest part of the front wall I3 when the device is held with the ends of the wings I4 and wall I3 directed downwardly, so that in picking up a :ball when the device is held in the position shown in Figure 1, the front edge of the gate is engaged against the ball and the body Ill moved forwardly, to swing the gate back so that the cage can then be lowered over the ball until the front edge of the gate passes below the center of the ball whereupon the gate moves forward under the ball and traps it in the cage.

The bottom of the gate slopes slightly upwardly toward the rear flange I8 so that the ball tends to stay in the front of the cage.

At the back of the body II is a hinge element 2| to which is coupled by the pivot pin 22, an end of a pole or shaft 23 of substantial length. This coupling is sufficiently tight to maintain the 3 cage body ll in any `position to which it may be turned by the hand. This pole may be about the length of a golf club shaft or longer as desired and the retriever may be turned on the pin 22 to any desired working position.

When the pole is positioned to extend upwardly and rearwardly from the cage as shown in Figure 1, the forward edge of the gate is pressed against the ball to shift the gate rearwardly as previously explained to trap the iball in the manner stated. The cage is then elevated so that its angle is changed to the position shown in Figure 3 and since the gate tends to `maintain its vertical hanging position the bottom of the wall I3 and the front edge of the gate separate and the ball rolls out.

Another position for the cage in picking up a ball is shown in Figure 4, where the cage is turned on the pivot 22 to have the front of the wall directed downward. The front edge of the gate is then engaged against the top of the ball and caused to swing up away from the wall I3 whereupon the edge of the wall is moved forward under the ball and the gate then drops down across the ball to trap it in the cage. rThe retriever may then be raised, or swung up to the position shown in Figure 5 so .that the ball rolls back in the cage against the bar 2l, in which position it can be carried, or it can be discharged by turning the device over to the position of Figure 3.

If, after picking up a ball, it is desired to secure the gate against swinging this may be done by turning the pole down across the back of the body where it blocks the gate against rearward swinging, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5.

Fromthe foregoing Vit will 'loe seen that there is provided by the present invention a ball retrieving device which is of relatively simple construction and may be made inexpensively of light weight material and will function effectively without the employment of springs or other manipulating means.

I claim:

l. A ball retriever of the character set forth comprising a hollow ball receiving cage having an open end, a gate adapted to substantially cover said open end and having its major portion disposed in advance of and spaced from said end, hanger arms carried by said gate at opposite sides thereof, means pivotally coupling said arms to the said opposite sides lof the cage at points remote from said end of the cage to swing freely on an axis extending across and through the longitudinal center of the cage, and a shaft having an end pivotally coupled to the body.

2. A ball retriever as set forth in claim l, wherein said gate is balanced to maintain a predetermined hanging position when the cage is oscillated in one direction about said axis whereby to effect separation of an edge of the gate and an adjacent edge portion of the cage for the discharge of a trapped ball.

3. A ball retriever of the character set forth comprising a cage havinga cylindrical body, the body having a front wall extension yof arcuate form and depending rear portions of less length than said wall, a shaft extending diametrically across said body, a pair of arms each ivoted at one end -to the shaft to hang therefrom, a scooplike gate member having each arm connected to one side thereof forwardly of the transverse center of the gate member, the gate member having a forward edge spaced below and behind the bottom edge of said front wall, the gate member being swingable on said shaft toward and away from said front wall, and a shaft secured at one end to the body at the side thereof remote from said front wall.

Il. A ball retriever as set forth in claim 3, wherein said gate member is of substantially U- shaped in cross section and has its bottom longitudinally upwardly inclined from said forward edge thereof when hanging free with the arm-s thereof substantially vertical.

CHARLES P. KEGLEY, Sa.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 56,972 Mellinger Aug. 7, 1866 818,342 Bell -Apr. 17, 1906 1,045,322 Price Nov. 25, 1912 1,523,270 Middleton Jan. 13, 1925 1,723,709 Reiser Aug. 6, 1929 2,270,632 Hasty Jan. 20, 1942 2,524,527 Jasmer Oct. 3, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date '724,798 France Jan. 30, 1932 

